LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending the Weeksville Heritage Center upon
the occasion of hosting its 12th Annual Benefit

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
commend organizations and institutions whose worthy endeavors are
committed to promoting and preserving the cultural heritage of the
ethnic groups which comprise and contribute so much to the richness and
diversity of the City and State of New York and to the history and
development of our nation; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern and fully in accord with its long-
standing traditions, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to
commend the Weeksville Heritage Center upon the occasion of hosting its
12th Annual Benefit on June 11, 2013; and
WHEREAS, Founded as the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and
Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1968 and chartered in 1971, the Weeksville Herit-
age Center began as it intended to continue, involving the community;
and
WHEREAS, Weeksville had its beginnings in 1838, only 11 years after
the abolition of slavery in New York, when a free African American,
James Weeks, a stevedore, purchased the land which would become Weeks-
ville from Henry C. Thompson, another free African American; and
WHEREAS, By the 1860s, Weeksville was a thriving, self-sufficient
African American community with Black-owned and operated businesses,
homes, schools, churches, an orphanage, a home for the elderly and many
other institutions, and FREEDMAN'S TORCHLIGHT, one of the nation's first
African American newspapers, which can be credited with promoting liter-
acy, suffrage rights, and the abolition of slavery; and
WHEREAS, Weeksville is an historic settlement of great national
significance; it is a testament to the perseverance of post-Civil War
African Americans, a powerful symbol of the endurance of a community,
and an inspiring catalyst for learning, for change, and for belief in
one's self and the possibilities of the future; and
WHEREAS, The Weeksville Heritage Center may be justly proud of its
heritage and its accomplishments; the significance of the Center and its
contributions to the preservation of the history and heritage of African
Americans, Brooklyn, New York State and the nation merit the recognition
and appreciation of this Legislative Body; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
recognize and commend the Weeksville Heritage Center upon the occasion
of hosting its 12th Annual Benefit; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Weeksville Heritage Center.